How the Deities Work in the AD&D of Challis:All Deities have the following abilities, above and beyond any others individually listed, which function instantaneously but not continuously (unless noted such under their entry). They can use these powers, alone or in combination, as often as they desire. Where it would be applicable, there is NO SAVE against these unless noted.
• All True/Full deities (Greater, Intermediate, and Lesser Gods) are
IMMORTAL. The only way for a deity to die is for intervention by a more powerful deity/being than themselves; the intervention may be either magical or physical in nature. Such an intervention is only successful on their Home plane. On the Prime Material plane, any action or attack that would kill or destroy a deity will only destroy the manifestation (for example, an Avatar) and send the being back to their Home plane. In some cases, this return may involve recovery (from especially potent or powerful attacks) leaving them vulnerable to potential attacks by other deific beings at home.
• All deities have the power to
TELEPORT instantly and without error, within their Home plane, at will. On other planes (except the Prime Material) the chance of failure is based on their familiarity with the plane.
• All deities have the ability to
PLANAR TRAVEL at will. There is no chance for error and no plane, save the Prime Material, is restricted to them. No physical or magical barrier or limitation can restrict this, though they CANNOT travel to the Prime Material plane in their natural, full power form, due to the Laws of Creation. (For this reason, they create Avatars).
• All deities can
COMPREHEND LANGUAGES at will, including both spoken and written components, and also including non verbal and signifying/symbolic expressions.
• All deities, when dealing with mortals or beings of Demi-god status or lower, automatically receive
INITIATIVE in any conflict. Of course, they may choose to do nothing and see what the lesser being has planned, but they can always act first if they so choose.
• All deities are
MAGIC RESISTANT to varying levels based on their relative power. The Greater Gods are 100% Magic Resistant to Mortal Magic, 75% versus Deities of lesser stature, 50% versus Deities of the same stature, and 25% versus Beings of Greater Stature (if such exist). The Intermediate Gods are 95% versus Mortal Magic, 70% versus lesser stature, 50% versus same stature, and 20% versus Greater Stature. The Lesser Gods are 90% versus Mortal Magic, 60% versus lesser stature, 45% versus same stature, and 15% versus Greater Stature. Demigods vary by their Sphere of Influence but generally are 70% versus Mortal Magic, 40% versus lesser stature, 35% versus same stature, and 5% versus Greater Stature.
• All deities generally make their
SAVING THROWS against anything that could affect them at a 2. Even if they fail, all effects not specifically tailored to affect deities are at 25% effect.
• All deities can use
MAGIC at will. Their use includes ALL spells available to mortals, as well as some known only to the Gods. They can use this power free of components, gestures, invocations, spell memorization, prayer, class, etc. Some are limited in access to their Sphere of Influence for one reason or another, but other than that they are unlimited in any way.
• All deities can
CREATE EMBODIMENT for themselves on the Prime Material plane. This embodiment can take any living form (plant, animal, humanoid, whatever) and can serve the deity as a means to guide, support, or even to speak to their faithful and servants on the plane. These embodiments are normal versions of their natural counterpart except that they have maximum stats and abilities for their type and they generally disappear from existence once their mission is complete. They may, on occasion, be used to grant treasures or mementos (a feather, a bit of fruit, etc) as a sign to the faithful and deserving.
• All deities can
CREATE AVATARS to act as their physical extensions on any plane. The number of Avatars a deity can have at any given time is dependant on their stature: Greater may have up to 10 at a time, Intermediate can have 5, and Lesser 2. If an Avatar is destroyed, it takes some time and energy for another to be formed. Greater gods require one hour of contemplation and formation and then a single day later another Avatar is ready. Intermediate gods require twelve hours of contemplation and formation, then in seven days another Avatar is ready. Lesser gods require one day of contemplation and formation and then a full month for another Avatar to be ready. Most Demigods do not have to power to create Avatars; those that can have no more than one at a time and take two months to create a new one if it is destroyed.
• All deities can
GRANT ABILITIES to the faithful and their clerics. They tend to grant spells and such only to the most gifted and devout (it is through this that some clerics, saints, and paladins gain their mystical abilities). They can only grant a power or spell equal to their own powers or less (See powers of the Greater Gods).
• All deities are capable of phenomenal feats of
MULTI-TASKING. The extent to which they are capable of this is limited by the type of deity. Greater Gods can easily perform any number of tasks desired, at once, without any penalty. Intermediate Gods can perform 100 or more tasks at once without penalty. Lesser Gods can perform 50 some odd tasks at once. Demigods can perform 10 tasks at once.
• Any deity with a Charisma score greater than 20 will inspire a
DIVINE AWE when appearing on the mortal plane. This awe leaves mortal beings in a state of stunned shock (the reverent may pray, kneel, etc) unable to perform any action for the first two rounds after the deity appears. This Divine Awe also applies to the Avatar of the deity if they so wish. This effect can be saved against if the viewer has a Wisdom score of 18 or greater. Save versus Spells at a penalty equal to Half the Charisma Reaction Adjustment for the deity present.
• All Gods can
COMMUNICATE with beings on other planes at will. The only difference is the manners of communication available to them in accordance with their standing. Greater Gods and Intermediate Gods may speak directly (secretly or publicly) to any being, across any void or barrier, transcending the bounds of space and planes. Only the most powerful, and those whose Sphere of Influence allows, can transcend time. The Lesser Gods can only speak through dreams, Avatars, or special Holy Items or Rituals specifically created for the purpose of communicating with them. Demigods, in general, can only communicate through rituals, items, and in person.
All Greater Gods (the highest end of the deity spectrum of power) get the following additional abilities with the same applications and limitations as the previous powers.
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Omniscience: They know all, see all, everywhere, at once. This does give many of them an almost precognative ability in relation to mortals and their actions; the gods can often accurately guess what the mortal will do and when based on this ability and their vast knowledge.
•
Creation: They can create any object they can think of, animate or inanimate, at will. This is somewhat draining though, and thus the deity must rest 1 Turn (10 minutes) per ton of mass created if it is created on the Prime Material plane. Creations on their own Home plane are not at all taxing.
•
Life and Death: Greater gods can kill any mortal, instantly and irrevocably (to anything but a deity of equal stature) creature with nothing but a thought. In the same vein, they can bestow or return life to any slain being they choose (regardless of condition, time that has passed, or cause of death) anywhere on any plane they have access to.
•
Grant Abilities: Greater Gods can grant their clerics, faithful, followers, and the deserving any ability or spell of any level that they wish to. These powers are limited only by the wishes and desires of the god granting it. They can be powers they themselves do not possess or spells of power previously unknown.
•
Saving Throws: All Greater Gods AUTOMATICALLY succeed in any Saving Throw required of them in all but the most unusual of circumstances. Their power is just THAT great.
•
Shapeshifting: Greater Gods can transform themselves into any object, animate or inanimate, of any size, at will. Under most circumstances, anything less than another Greater God will not know them in this new form unless the shaped god somehow reveals their divine nature. On rare occasions this ability will be used to move among mortals.
•
Planar Travel: Greater Gods can, for brief periods (no more than 24 hours in 30 days) walk the Prime Material plane in their full power, natural form. Only the most powerful of them are able to do this.
The Pantheon of Challis (“The House of the Gods”)
• Please note that this listing does not necessarily reflect what your CHARACTER knows about the gods. At best, clerics skilled in religion know a good portion of this. As well, the information here is the “truth as we know it” versions of the gods. Actual content may vary (they work in mysterious ways, after all).
• Once in a while you will see me use the term “Sphere of Influence”. This is the realm or realms of mortal affairs and natural forces upon which the god has greatest control. For example, Aphrodite’s would have Love and Beauty as her Sphere of Influence. It often has bearing on what spells the priests can access.
• Please note that the gods and goddesses listed here are the dominant pantheon of the Known Realms in the Lands of Challis BEFORE the Great Tragedy that befell the land. They do not reflect ALL the deities and deific beings of the realm, the racial variants (some groups of other races worship the same entities but under other names and with slight racially specific variants), historical precedents (“Old Gods”), new worship and faiths that sprang up after the Fall, and the like.
• All Listings for their Hit Points and such are per their embodiment were they to transit to the mortal/Prime Material plane. They can, of course, only truly be killed on their home plane. To “kill” a god on the Prime Material plane simply sends it back to its home plane for 6-24 hours.
• The deities of Challis are, for the most part, a lot like in the Greek legends of their deities. The deities of the Pantheon are fairly willing to interfere, dabble in mortal affairs, even take on disguises to walk the mortal plane. Under the right circumstances, they may even show themselves to followers. As well, they have mortal failings, emotions, desires, and such. Basically, they are more interesting of Gods than alot of other ones.
• Only Known and Specifically relevant Demi-gods will be listed in the following entries. Great heroes associated with the Gods, and other such beings, will be identified and detailed only as needed.
The Home Plane of the Deities of Challis is referred to as “The Land of the Gods” and is most often given the name Tolann (pronounced Too-lawn). It is a Challis-like realm, but in an idealized and perfect form; the weather is always ideal, its lakes and rivers are cool and crystal clear, food and drink are abundant, game and fowl are plentiful. It is a land only as challenging and difficult as those who seek out such things wish to find them. One could walk for days and never find any trial presented by the natural habitat there. While it would be impossible for any mortal to determine the center of this vast land, it is at this place that the House of the Gods rests.
The House of the Gods is the dwelling in which the Family of Gods, often refered to as simple "The Family", reside. In various versions it is depicted as everything from a huge castle like structure to a massive estate home. On their home plane is appears as a massive temple with pillars of white marble and walls of yellow gold granite. From here they oversee all the events of the mortal world and engage in all their actions, plans, and conspiracies.
The gods have the standard needs of mortal worship (they gain power from it, they gain influence among their kin, etc). Most will enjoy flattery but those with a Wisdom higher than 16 will quickly recognize it for what it is, should the flattery carry on for more than one round, thus being unaffected by it.
Generally, as they are family, they tend not to directly battle one another. In most cases, the deities will use their agents to counter one another’s plans and goals, and rarely will their agents be sent against another god. Most often, mortal followers on the Prime Material plane will be used to harass and control the efforts of other deities in any desired attempts to upset the status quo on Challis.
They have a long standing Rule of Order that forbids too great (as defined by a God?) of direct interference on the Prime Material plane (specifically, Challis).
